Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask leave of the House to amend the notice relating to the proposed amendments to the standing orders in the terms as circulated.

Leave granted.

I thank the opposition and I move:

That standing orders 34, 55, 133 and 192 be amended, as follows:

34    Order of business

The order of business to be followed by the House is shown in figure 2.

Figure 2. House order of business

55    Lack of quorum

(a) When the attention of the Speaker is drawn to the state of the House and the Speaker observes that a quorum is not present, the Speaker shall count the Members present in accordance with standing order 56.

(b) On Mondays, if any Member draws the attention of the Speaker to the state of the House between 10 am and 12 noon, the Speaker shall announce that he or she will count the House at 12 noon, if the Member then so desires.

(c) On Mondays, if any Member draws the attention of the Speaker to the state of the House between the hours of 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm, the Speaker shall announce that he or she will count the House after the discussion of a matter of public importance on Tuesday, if the Member then so desires.

(d) On Tuesdays, if any Member draws the attention of the Speaker to the state of the House prior to 2 pm, the Speaker shall announce that he or she will count the House after the discussion of the matter of public importance, if the Member then so desires.

(e) On Tuesdays, if any Member draws the attention of the Speaker to the state of the House between the hours of 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm, the Speaker shall announce that he or she will count the House at 9.30 am on Wednesday, if the Member then so desires.

(f) If a quorum is in fact present when a Member draws attention to the state of the House, the Speaker may name the Member in accordance with standing order 94(b) (sanctions against disorderly conduct).

133    Deferred divisions on Mondays and Tuesdays

(a) On Mondays, any division called for between the hours of 10 am and 12 noon shall be deferred until 12 noon.

(b) On Mondays, any division called for between the hours of 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm shall be deferred until after the discussion of the matter of public importance on Tuesday.

(c) On Tuesdays, any division called for prior to 2 pm shall be deferred until after the discussion of the matter of public importance.

(d) On Tuesdays, any division called for between the hours of 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm shall be deferred until 9.30 am on Wednesday.

(e) The Speaker shall put all questions on which a division has been deferred, successively and without amendment or further debate.

(f) This standing order does not apply to a division called on a motion moved by a Minister on Mondays and Tuesdays, during the periods specified in this standing order and on which a Minister requests that the division take place.

192    Federation Chamber’s indicative order of business

The normal order of business of the Federation Chamber is set out in figure 4.

Figure 4. Federation Chamber indicative order of business

The meeting times of the Federation Chamber are fixed by the Deputy Speaker and are subject to change. Times shown for the start and finish of items of business are approximate. Adjournment debates can occur on days other than Thursdays by agreement between the Whips.

In moving this motion, I might just explain the process and what we are proposing to do with the standing orders. Yesterday we made a number of noncontroversial changes to the standing orders as agreed between the opposition, the crossbenchers and the government and today we are moving another change. Then, when we return on 12 September, there may well be other changes that we can agree between the government, the opposition and the crossbenchers. Of course, where we do not agree we might still pursue those changes, depending on the government's attitude at the time.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Will it be a good day or a bad day?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will see how we go and how the opposition is behaving. These changes will mean that the divisions and quorums process, which at the moment is suspended between 6.30 pm and 8 pm, will be moved to between 7.30 pm and 9 pm. So there will be no divisions or quorums between 7.30 pm and 9 pm, rather than between 6.30 pm and 8 pm. So it is the same period of time and the same amount of government business can be done. Simply, between 7.30 and nine o'clock there will be no divisions or quorums except when we achieve leave of the opposition. There may be occasions when there does need to be a bill passed, particularly around national security issues. That is often the case when that happens. When we need to do that we will seek leave of the opposition to do so, and by leave a division might be held.

This will mean that between 7.30 and nine o'clock on Mondays and Tuesdays members of parliament will be able to do their committee work, whether it is for standing committees of the House, joint standing committees with the Senate or backbench committees, without interruption. Ministers will be able to hold meetings without interruption for divisions and quorums, as will other members of the House. It makes for a much more sensible way of doing government business—and opposition business, for that matter—and much better management of the House and the parliament. I think it will lead to better outcomes for the government and also for the health of members.

Of course, the 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm period is usually called the dinner break. I do not know of any members who actually leave the House during that time but I am sure there are some. I do not and I cannot remember the last time I did, quite frankly. It is probably not since before I was first a minister—or shadow minister, for that matter—which is now over 10 years. There was an interregnum. There was the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd interregnum, which I have tried to keep out of my memory bank; that was an unpleasant period. Most people do not use that time for a dinner break, and this will move it to a more sensible time. People who have dinner in the House will be able to do so without being interrupted. So I do commend the change to the standing orders to the House. I think it will be wildly popular with the people who work in this building. And I thank the opposition for their bipartisan support for this change.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The opposition will be supporting the amendments to standing orders that are in front of us at the moment. They have been the subject of a negotiation. Like the Leader of the House, I have to say that whatever time the dinner break is meant to be is irrelevant to most of us. It makes a difference only to the extent that committee meetings and other things that are organised around the place can be guaranteed to occur without divisions.

The opposition sought a particular change to standing orders, which is included in the amendment. Up until now, during these periods it has been possible for a division to be called anyway if a minister came in and simply moved a motion of that nature. This amendment says that can happen only by leave. It means that the capacity that has always been there for government members, in being able to schedule events during that period, will now be available for non-government members as well.

With that, I thank the Leader of the House for what was a constructive negotiation. I will not say it was terse, but there were different moments during the process of the negotiation. There have been a number of different proposals floated for changes to standing orders. Some of them came up in the weekend media and amount to absolute atrocities. They are not in front of us at the moment. We are told that whether or not they will be in the future will depend on the 'mood' of the Leader of the House—which means that at a later date anything could happen. As to what is in front of us at the moment, the opposition will be supporting the amendments.

Question agreed to.